• Identity Theft occurs when someone illegally obtains your personal information, such as Social Security number or bank account number, and uses it repeatedly to open new accounts or initiate transactions in your name. Financial loss and damaged credit can result. While thieves can obtain personal information via online methods, the majority of identity theft occurs offline. Stealing wallets and purses, intercepting or rerouting your mail, and rummaging through your garbage are some common tactics thieves use to obtain personal information.
• As a best practice to avoid falling victim to Identity Theft you should follow the below recommendations:
  • Do not open or respond to online solicitations for personal information.
  • Carry only necessary identification.
  • Don't provide your Social Security number as identification, unless it is truly needed to sign up for a service.
  • Make photocopies of all the information you carry daily and store them in a secure location such as a safe deposit box.
  • Shred financial or personal documents before discarding. Most fraud and identity theft incidences occur as a result of mail and garbage theft.
  • Use paperless options such as E-Statements and Online Bill Payment whenever possible to limit your receipt of paper statements.
  • Reviewing your bank accounts online frequently will help you monitor your account activity and more quickly detect any fraudulent transactions.

• Online fraud occurs when someone poses as a legitimate company to obtain personal data and illegally conducts transactions on your existing accounts. 'Phishing' or 'Spoofing' are common methods of online fraud utilizing fake email and websites, and pop-up windows to obtain sensitive information.
• Remember that Veritex Community Bank will NEVER send unsolicited email containing attachments, or require customers to send personal information to us via email or pop-up windows. Any unsolicited request for Veritex Community Bank account information you receive through emails, Web sites, or pop-up windows should be considered fraudulent and reported to us immediately.
• If you believe you have become a victim of fraud make sure to contact:
  • Veritex Community Bank
  • Local Police
  • Federal Trade Commission
  • Internet Crime Complaint Center
  • The Three Major Credit Bureaus - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion

Fake emails can be easy to spot when you know what to look for. Fake emails will often:

• Ask for personal information - Be stringent with whom you share this information.
• Appear to be from a legitimate source - There may be only a slight difference from the legitimate source in relation to fonts, images, or email addresses.
• Try to get you to act IMMEDIATELY by using phrases such as "Your online bank account will be terminated unless you click on the below link to re-activate" – Veritex Community Bank will NEVER send you an email like this.
• Contain spelling and grammar errors.
• The email may contain links to counterfeit Web sites. These are often disguised by also providing links to legitimate Web sites. You should never click on a link embedded within an email. Always type the URL directly into your browser to ensure you are not being direct to an imposter website.
• Contain both fraudulent and real phone numbers. As a best practice, cross reference listed phones numbers with phone numbers in a directory.
• Check out our article on Business Email Compromise for more tips on email scams.

Aside from email phishing scams, cyber-criminals try to trick you into providing sensitive information or installing malware by getting you to click on malicious links contained on websites. These types of attacks are a little harder to detect, but there are some things you can do:

• Hover your mouse over links before clicking on them and read the URL of where the link is taking you.
• Avoid sites known for malicious content such as online gambling sites, file sharing sites and adult sites.
• Keep your browser up to date.
• When shopping online ensure that the sites check out page uses the prefix “https://”. The “s” at the end is the indication that the page is secure. Modern browsers will typically display the URL as a different color, typically green.
• Avoid using your primary email when prompted for an email address on sites such as shopping or subscription service sites.
• Never enter personal or confidential information like your social security number, unless you trust the site.
• Do not click on Pop-ups.

Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter are services people can use to connect with others to share information like photos, videos, and personal messages. As the popularity of these social sites grows, so do the risks of using them. Hackers, spammers, virus writers, identity thieves, and other criminals are using the information they can gather from these sites. Read these tips to help protect yourself when you use social networks.

• Use caution when you click links that you receive in messages from your friends on your social website. Treat links in messages on these sites as you would links in email messages.
• Know what you've posted about yourself. A common way that hackers break into financial or other accounts is by clicking the "Forgot your password?" link on the account login page. To break into your account, they search for the answers to your security questions, such as your birthday, home town, high school class, or mother's middle name. If the site allows, make up your own password questions, and don't draw them from material anyone could find with a quick search.
• Don't trust that a message is really from who it says it's from. Hackers can break into accounts and send messages that look like they're from your friends, but aren't. If you suspect that a message is fraudulent, use an alternate method to contact your friend to find out. This includes invitations to join new social networks.
• To avoid giving away email addresses of your friends, do not allow social networking services to scan your email address book. When you join a new social network, you might receive an offer to enter your email address and password to find out if your contacts are on the network. The site might use this information to send email messages to everyone in your contact list or even everyone you've ever sent an email message to with that email address. Social networking sites should explain that they're going to do this, but some do not.
• Type the address of your social networking site directly into your browser or use your personal bookmarks. If you click a link to your site through email or another website, you might be entering your account name and password into a fake site where your personal information could be stolen.
• Be selective about who you accept as a friend on a social network. Identity thieves might create fake profiles in order to get information from you.
• Choose your social network carefully. Evaluate the site that you plan to use and make sure you understand the privacy policy. Find out if the site monitors content that people post. You will be providing personal information to this website, so use the same criteria that you would to select a site where you enter your credit card.
• Assume that everything you put on a social networking site is permanent. Even if you can delete your account, anyone on the Internet can easily print photos or text or save images and videos to a computer.
• Be careful about installing extras on your site. Many social networking sites allow you to download third-party applications that let you do more with your personal page. Criminals sometimes use these applications to steal your personal information. To download and use third-party applications safely, take the same safety precautions that you take with any other program or file you download from the web.